GREEK FINANCIAL MARKET

The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 996.82 posting losses of 0.84%, in a turnover of €49.92mn.

Corporate Impacts

• Greek Banks: According to press reports, banks probably will obtain an extension to their end-April deadline to raise fresh capital. The extension is needed because NBG and Eurobank are merging. In other news, Hellenic Postbank’s voluntary redundancy plan of about 700 employees must be completed as soon as possible.
• Cypriot Banks: The President Mr. Dimitris Christofias said that Russia is ready to help Cyprus by joining the EU in putting together a rescue package for the country. We remind that Cyprus has received a €2.5bn loan from Russia and has formally asked to extend repayment of the loan from 2016 to 2021.
• OTE: The Company issued €700mn of five-year bonds paying a 7.875% coupon. The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.7 times.

Technical

FTSE 20 March future:

Support levels: 332-326-320. Resistance levels: 342-346-352.

General Index:

Support levels: 990-975-955. Resistance levels: 1,014-1,030-1,050.

GREEK FINANCIAL MARKET

The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 1,005.28 posting losses of 0.84%, in a turnover of €116.53mn.

The Gulf state of Qatar pledged to invest up to €1bn in small and medium-sized companies in order to help Greece recover from its debt crisis. The agreement was reached during the visit by the Greek Prime Minister Mr. Antonis Samaras, who was accompanied by his development and defence ministers and a team of Greek business leaders.

The EU’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Mr. Olli Rehn said that the chance of a Greek euro exit has virtually disappeared. expressing his satisfaction that Greece was gradually restoring its competitiveness.

The Producer Price Index in Industry (PPI) rose by 1.9% in December compared with a year earlier (ELSTAT).

Corporate Impacts

• ΟΤΕ: The company plans to issue a five-year euro-denominated bond and plans to buy back its bonds maturing in 2013 and 2014. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and HSBC are lead managers on the projected bond issue.
• Cypriot Banks: The Finance Minister Mr. Vassos Shiarly said that the Eurogroup finance ministers are studying the possibility of involving Russia in the bailout deal and they are trying to ascertain if Russia is able to participate with international lenders and how much it could contribute.

Technical

FTSE 20 March future:

Support levels: 335-330-324. Resistance levels: 346-352-360.

General Index:

Support levels: 992-975-955. Resistance levels: 1,014-1,030-1,050.

GREEK FINANCIAL MARKET

The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 1,013.79 posting marginal losses of 0.07%, in a turnover of €70.22mn.

The Greek Prime Minister Mr. Antonis Samaras will visit Qatar to discuss investment possibilities in Greece, including stakes in Greek state-owned companies and participation in the capital increase of the Greek banks.

Economic Releases

• Industrial Producer Prices for December (ELSTAT)

Corporate Releases

• Hellenic Petroleum EGM

Corporate Impacts

• Greek Banks: a) The deposits rose for a fourth consecutive month in December to €161.36bn from €155.89bn in November (BoG) b) The banks may get more time to complete their recapitalization. NBG is likely to get extension as recapitalization cannot take place during offer period for Eurobank. The extension would be about two months, to end-June and needs the troika approval (Imerisia) c) Greece Market Regulator extended short selling ban for banks until the end of April.

Technical

FTSE 20 March future:

Support levels: 336-330-324. Resistance levels: 350-356-362.

General Index:

Support levels: 992-975-955. Resistance levels: 1,030-1,050-1,166.

GREEK FINANCIAL MARKET

The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 1,014.53 posting profits of 2.74%, in a turnover of €69.24mn.

The Greek Prime Minister Mr. Antonis Samaras will visit Qatar to discuss investment possibilities in Greece, including stakes in Greek state-owned companies and participation in the capital increase of the Greek banks.

The head of the IMF’s program in Greece Mr. Poul Thomsen said that failure to improve tax collection this year would result in further cuts to pensions and wages.

The ECB board member Mr. Joerg Asmussen said that Greece is two-thirds of the way to completing its fiscal consolidation. The reduction in unit labour costs, the shrinking of the current account deficit and an increase in exports as signs that reforms were having a positive impact.

Corporate Impacts

• Cypriot banks: Fitch downgraded the government bond rating by two notches to ‘B’ with a negative outlook. It estimates that the cost of bailing out all of banks to be €10bn, so the country will need a bailout package of roughly €17bn. This would push up Cyprus debt to 140% of GDP in 2013.

Technical

FTSE 20 December future:

Support levels: 342-336-330. Resistance levels: 353-358-364.

GREEK FINANCIAL MARKET

The General Index in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) closed at 987.45 posting losses of 3.14%, in a turnover of €135.96mn, due to the growing clash between the government and transport unionists increasing the political risk of the country.

Corporate Impacts

• OPAP: The European Union’s highest court said that Greece’s gambling monopoly is unlawful, after the case brought by Stanleybet International Ltd., William Hill Plc (WMH) and Sportingbet Plc. The EU law prohibits national rules that grant exclusive rights to a single entity without serving the public interest in reducing the number of betting opportunities.

Technical

FTSE 20 December future:

Support levels: 330-324-318. Resistance levels: 342-348-354.